School officials look to hook interest of Parker School parents

New Bedford School officials reached out to parents of students of the "chronically underperforming" John Avery Parker School on Tuesday, the opening effort to create a partnership that the state considers critical in turning around student performance.

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By STEVE DeCOSTA

southcoasttoday.com

By STEVE DeCOSTA

Posted May. 7, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 7, 2014 at 12:54 PM

By STEVE DeCOSTA

Posted May. 7, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 7, 2014 at 12:54 PM

» Social News

NEW BEDFORD — School officials reached out to parents of students of the "chronically underperforming" John Avery Parker School on Tuesday, the opening effort to create a partnership that the state considers critical in turning around student performance.

Superintendent Pia Durkin, Principal Debra Letendre and others outlined a series of changes to come at the school, declared Level 5 — the lowest rank on the state's five-tier accountability system — and placed under control of the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in October.

"We are taking steps to increase opportunities for all our students," Durkin told the 30 or so parents in attendance. With a three-year turnaround plan crafted by the state, "we have the recipe to make progress and help every child to succeed."

Family involvement is a major ingredient of that recipe, and while some questioned why so few parents were on hand, school officials were heartened by the attendance.

"To me, having more than two parents is great," Durkin said. "This is something we can build on. There are many different ways parents can become engaged."

One important way, officials hope, is through the creation of Family Resource Center, a place parents can visit to learn more about what's going on at Parker and school officials can learn more about them.

"We have to have a system in place to tap into each parent and see what their needs are," Letendre said. "It's a place where you can start determining for us how we can help you (and) it's a resource for you, too."

While most parents said they were excited about the expanded learning opportunities for their children, there was a little pushback on the extended school day, which will have students in school from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. five days a week, and the elimination of February vacation. Some feared it could cut back on family time and make it hard to explain, for example, why a child at Parker would be in school while a sibling in middle school would be on vacation.

Durkin said the extra time would be filled with "really intense, exciting learning," and predicted that "your children are not going to want to go home and, when they do, they're going to be excited to tell you what they've learned.

"We don't often get a chance to do learning that's as much fun as it should be," the superintendent said.

Officials also outlined a four-day-a-week, four-week, voluntary summer program in July focusing on small-group instruction. "This year, we're going to focus on students who need to fill in the gaps, who need interventions," Letendre said, but the program could be expanded in the future.